Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.
Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile1; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator2, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly4 convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable5 in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged6 gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot--say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance-- literally7 to astonish his son's weak mind.
Scrooge never painted out Old Marley's name. There it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse9 door: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge, and sometimes Marley, but he answered to both names. It was all the same to him.
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching10, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous12, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary13 as an oyster14. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed15 nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened16 his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke17 out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime18 was on his head, and on his eyebrows19, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw20 it one degree at Christmas.
External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting21 rain less open to entreaty23. Foul24 weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet25, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often `came down' handsomely, and Scrooge never did.
Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, `My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?' No beggars implored26 him to bestow27 a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug28 their owners into doorways29 and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, `No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!'
But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call `nuts' to Scrooge.
Once upon a time--of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve--old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak30, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing31 up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already-- it had not been light all day--and candles were flaring32 in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears33 upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense34 without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere35 phantoms37. To see the dingy38 cloud come drooping39 down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing40 on a large scale.
The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal41 little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish42 it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel43, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.
`A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!' cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
`Bah!' said Scrooge, `Humbug44!'
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
`Christmas a humbug, uncle!' said Scrooge's nephew. `You don't mean that, I am sure?'
`I do,' said Scrooge. `Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.'
`Come, then,' returned the nephew gaily45. `What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose46? You're rich enough.'
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said `Bah!' again; and followed it up with `Humbug.'
`Don't be cross, uncle!' said the nephew.
`What else can I be,' returned the uncle, `when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,' said Scrooge indignantly, `every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly47 through his heart. He should!'
`Uncle!' pleaded the nephew.
`Nephew!' returned the uncle sternly, `Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.'
`Keep it!' repeated Scrooge's nephew. `But you don't keep it.'
`Let me leave it alone, then,' said Scrooge. `Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!'
`There are many things from which I might have derived48 good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. `Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round--apart from the veneration49 due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that--as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap11 of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'
The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded. Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked50 the fire, and extinguished the last frail51 spark for ever.
`Let me hear another sound from you,' said Scrooge, `and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! You're quite a powerful speaker, sir,' he added, turning to his nephew. `I wonder you don't go into Parliament.'
`Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow.'
Scrooge said that he would see him--yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity52 first.
`But why?' cried Scrooge's nephew. `Why?'
`Why did you get married?' said Scrooge.
`Because I fell in love.'
`Because you fell in love!' growled53 Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. `Good afternoon!'
`Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?'
`Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
`I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?'
`Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
`I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute55. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage56 to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!'
`Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
`And A Happy New Year!'
`Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who cold as he was, was warmer than Scrooge; for he returned them cordially.
`There's another fellow,' muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: `my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas. I'll retire to Bedlam58.'
This lunatic, in letting Scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in. They were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold59, and now stood, with their hats off, in Scrooge's office. They had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him.
`Scrooge and Marley's, I believe,' said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. `Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Scrooge, or Mr. Marley?'
`Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years,' Scrooge replied. `He died seven years ago, this very night.'
`We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,' said the gentleman, presenting his credentials60.
It certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous61 word `liberality,' Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.
`At this festive62 season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,' said the gentleman, taking up a pen, `it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute63, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.'
`Are there no prisons?' asked Scrooge.
`Plenty of prisons,' said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
`And the Union workhouses?' demanded Scrooge. `Are they still in operation?'
`They are. Still,' returned the gentleman, `I wish I could say they were not.'
`The Treadmill64 and the Poor Law are in full vigour65, then?' said Scrooge.
`Both very busy, sir.'
`Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,' said Scrooge. `I'm very glad to hear it.'
`Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian66 cheer of mind or body to the multitude,' returned the gentleman, `a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?'
`Nothing!' Scrooge replied.
`I wish to be left alone,' said Scrooge. `Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned--they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.'
`Many can't go there; and many would rather die.'
`If they would rather die,' said Scrooge, `they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides--excuse me--I don't know that.'
`But you might know it,' observed the gentleman.
`It's not my business,' Scrooge returned. `It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere68 with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!'
Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. Scrooge returned his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious69 temper than was usual with him.
Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering70 their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations71 afterwards as if its teeth were chattering72 in its frozen head up there. The cold became intense. In the main street at the corner of the court, some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier, round which a party of ragged73 men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking74 their eyes before the blaze in rapture75. The water-plug being left in solitude76, its overflowing77 sullenly78 congealed79, and turned to misanthropic80 ice. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. Poulterers' and grocers' trades became a splendid joke; a glorious pageant81, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty82 Mansion83 House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor's household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow's pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef.
Foggier yet, and colder! Piercing, searching, biting cold. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. The owner of one scant84 young nose, gnawed85 and mumbled86 by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale87 him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of
`God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!'
Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.
At length the hour of shutting up the counting- house arrived. With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat.
`You'll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?' said Scrooge.
`If quite convenient, sir.'
`It's not convenient,' said Scrooge, `and it's not fair. If I was to stop you half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill-used, I'll be bound?'
The clerk smiled faintly.
`And yet,' said Scrooge, `you don't think me ill-used, when I pay a day's wages for no work.'
The clerk observed that it was only once a year.
`A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!' said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. `But I suppose you must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier next morning.'
The clerk promised that he would; and Scrooge walked out with a growl54. The office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling88 below his waist (for he boasted no great-coat), went down a slide on Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being Christmas Eve, and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt22, to play at blindman's-buff.
Scrooge took his melancholy89 dinner in his usual melancholy tavern90; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled91 the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, went home to bed. He lived in chambers92 which had once belonged to his deceased partner. They were a gloomy suite94 of rooms, in a lowering pile of a building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. It was old enough now, and dreary95 enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway96 of the house, that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation97 on the threshold.
Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including--which is a bold word--the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed98 one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven years' dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change--not a knocker, but Marley's face.
Marley's face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster99 in a dark cellar. It was not angry or ferocious100, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously101 stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. That, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression.
As Scrooge looked fixedly102 at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again.
To say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy104, would be untrue. But he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished105, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle.
He did pause, with a moment's irresolution106, before he shut the door; and he did look cautiously behind it first, as if he half-expected to be terrified with the sight of Marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said `Pooh, pooh!' and closed it with a bang.
The sound resounded107 through the house like thunder. Every room above, and every cask in the wine-merchant's cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal108 of echoes of its own. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. He fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs; slowly too: trimming his candle as he went.
You may talk vaguely109 about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young Act of Parliament; but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy. There was plenty of width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom. Half a dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn't have lighted the entry too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with Scrooge's dip.
Up Scrooge went, not caring a button for that. Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. He had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that.
Sitting-room110, bedroom, lumber-room. All as they should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel111 (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. Lumber-room as usual. Old fire-guards, old shoes, two fish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker112.
Quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat113; put on his dressing-gown and slippers114, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.
It was a very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. He was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. The fireplace was an old one, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint115 Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate116 the Scriptures117. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaohs' daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending118 through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts-- and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient Prophet's rod, and swallowed up the whole. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old Marley's head on every one.
`Humbug!' said Scrooge; and walked across the room.
After several turns, he sat down again. As he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber93 in the highest story of the building. It was with great astonishment119, and with a strange, inexplicable120 dread3, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house.
This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. The bells ceased as they had begun, together. They were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine merchant's cellar. Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains.
The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door.
`It's humbug still!' said Scrooge. `I won't believe it.'
His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried `I know him; Marley's Ghost!' and fell again.
The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels121 on the latter bristling122, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers123, deeds, and heavy purses wrought124 in steel. His body was transparent125; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind.
Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels126, but he had never believed it until now.
No, nor did he believe it even now. Though he looked the phantom36 through and through, and saw it standing57 before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture127 of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses.
`How now!' said Scrooge, caustic128 and cold as ever. `What do you want with me?'
`Much!'--Marley's voice, no doubt about it.
`Who are you?'
`Ask me who I was.'
`Who were you then?' said Scrooge, raising his voice. `You're particular, for a shade.' He was going to say `to a shade,' but substituted this, as more appropriate.
`In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.'
`Can you--can you sit down?' asked Scrooge, looking doubtfully at him.
`I can.'
`Do it, then.'
Scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it.
`You don't believe in me,' observed the Ghost.
`I don't,' said Scrooge.
`What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?'
`I don't know,' said Scrooge.
`Why do you doubt your senses?'
`Because,' said Scrooge, `a little thing affects them. A slight disorder129 of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot130 of mustard, a crumb131 of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy132 than of grave about you, whatever you are!'
Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish133 then. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow134 in his bones.
To sit, staring at those fixed103 glazed135 eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. There was something very awful, too, in the spectre's being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the Ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels, were still agitated136 as by the hot vapour from an oven.
`You see this toothpick?' said Scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision's stony137 gaze from himself.
`I do,' replied the Ghost.
`You are not looking at it,' said Scrooge.
`But I see it,' said the Ghost, `notwithstanding.'
`Well!' returned Scrooge, `I have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted138 by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. Humbug, I tell you! humbug!'
At this the spirit raised a frightful139 cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling140 noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw141 dropped down upon its breast!
Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face.
`Mercy!' he said. `Dreadful apparition142, why do you trouble me?'
`Man of the worldly mind!' replied the Ghost, `do you believe in me or not?'
`I do,' said Scrooge. `I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?'
`It is required of every man,' the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth143 in life, it is condemned144 to do so after death. It is doomed145 to wander through the world--oh, woe146 is me!--and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!'
Again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung147 its shadowy hands.
`You are fettered,' said Scrooge, trembling. `Tell me why?'
`I wear the chain I forged in life,' replied the Ghost. `I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?'
Scrooge trembled more and more.
`Or would you know,' pursued the Ghost, `the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous148 chain!'
Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms149 of iron cable: but he could see nothing.
`Jacob,' he said, imploringly150. `Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob!'
`I have none to give,' the Ghost replied. `It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more, is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house--mark me!--in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!'
It was a habit with Scrooge, whenever he became thoughtful, to put his hands in his breeches pockets. Pondering on what the Ghost had said, he did so now, but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees.
`You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,' Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility151 and deference152.
`Slow!' the Ghost repeated.
`Seven years dead,' mused153 Scrooge. `And travelling all the time!'
`The whole time,' said the Ghost. `No rest, no peace. Incessant154 torture of remorse155.'
`You travel fast?' said Scrooge.
`On the wings of the wind,' replied the Ghost.
`You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years,' said Scrooge.
The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously156 in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward8 would have been justified157 in indicting158 it for a nuisance.
`Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed,' cried the phantom, `not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal159 creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity160 before the good of which it is susceptible161 is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly162 in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends163 for one life's opportunity misused164! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!'
`But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered165 Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
`Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing166 its hands again. `Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence167, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'
It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.
`At this time of the rolling year,' the spectre said `I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode168! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!'
Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.
`Hear me!' cried the Ghost. `My time is nearly gone.'
`I will,' said Scrooge. `But don't be hard upon me! Don't be flowery, Jacob! Pray!'
`How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you can see, I may not tell. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day.'
It was not an agreeable idea. Scrooge shivered, and wiped the perspiration169 from his brow.
`That is no light part of my penance,' pursued the Ghost. `I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring170, Ebenezer.'
`You were always a good friend to me,' said Scrooge. `Thank 'ee!'
`You will be haunted,' resumed the Ghost, `by Three Spirits.'
Scrooge's countenance171 fell almost as low as the Ghost's had done.
`Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?' he demanded, in a faltering172 voice.
`It is.'
`I--I think I'd rather not,' said Scrooge.
`Without their visits,' said the Ghost, `you cannot hope to shun173 the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls174 One.'
`Couldn't I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob?' hinted Scrooge.
`Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!'
When it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head, as before. Scrooge knew this, by the smart sound its teeth made, when the jaws175 were brought together by the bandage. He ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect176 attitude, with its chain wound over and about its arm.
The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. It beckoned177 Scrooge to approach, which he did. When they were within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Scrooge stopped.
Not so much in obedience178, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation179 and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. The spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge;and floated out upon the bleak, dark night.
Scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. He looked out.
The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither180 in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous181 iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery182 with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.
Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. But they and their spirit voices faded together; and the night became as it had been when he walked home.
Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the Ghost had entered. It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. He tried to say `Humbug!' but stopped at the first syllable183. And being, from the emotion he had undergone, or the fatigues184 of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose185; went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant.
收听单词发音 |
1
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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administrator
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| n.经营管理者，行政官员 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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17
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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18
rime
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| n.白霜；v.使蒙霜 | |
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19
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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20
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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21
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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22
pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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23
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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24
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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25
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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26
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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28
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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29
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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30
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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31
wheezing
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
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32
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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33
smears
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| 污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤 | |
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34
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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35
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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38
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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39
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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40
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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41
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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42
replenish
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| vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满 | |
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43
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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44
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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45
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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46
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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47
holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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48
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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49
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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50
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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51
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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52
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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53
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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54
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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55
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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56
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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57
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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58
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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59
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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60
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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61
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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62
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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63
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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64
treadmill
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| n.踏车；单调的工作 | |
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65
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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66
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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67
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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68
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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69
facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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70
proffering
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的现在分词 ) | |
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71
vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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72
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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73
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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74
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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75
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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76
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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77
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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78
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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79
congealed
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| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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80
misanthropic
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| adj.厌恶人类的，憎恶（或蔑视）世人的；愤世嫉俗 | |
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81
pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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82
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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83
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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84
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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85
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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89
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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90
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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91
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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92
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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93
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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95
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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97
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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98
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
lobster
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| n.龙虾，龙虾肉 | |
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100
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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101
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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102
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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103
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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104
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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105
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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106
irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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107
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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108
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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109
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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110
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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111
gruel
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| n.稀饭，粥 | |
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112
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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113
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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114
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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115
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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116
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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117
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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118
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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119
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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120
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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121
tassels
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| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
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122
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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123
ledgers
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| n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 ) | |
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124
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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125
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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126
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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127
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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128
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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129
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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130
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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131
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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132
gravy
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| n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快 | |
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133
waggish
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| adj.诙谐的，滑稽的 | |
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134
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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135
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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136
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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137
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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138
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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139
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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140
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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141
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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142
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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143
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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144
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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145
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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146
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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147
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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148
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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149
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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150
imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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151
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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152
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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153
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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154
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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155
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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156
hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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157
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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158
indicting
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| 控告，起诉( indict的现在分词 ) | |
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159
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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160
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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161
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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162
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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163
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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164
misused
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| v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用 | |
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165
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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166
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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167
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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168
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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169
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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170
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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171
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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172
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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173
shun
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| vt.避开，回避，避免 | |
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174
tolls
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| （缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏 | |
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175
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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176
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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177
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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178
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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179
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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180
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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181
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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182
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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183
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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184
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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185
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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